Hi - I am very late posting a comment on your posting!! Pressure of day job I am afraid. It is interesting to see your 3 Fiori purchases. Yes the "avventurine" (Italian spelling) is fascinating. Initially it seemed to be all copper coloured, but in their last production line 3 Fiori were experimenting with all different collours of avventurine - see Aventurine Scramble on my website. It is so sad that 3 Fiori has ceased production. I too like that particular design - called Settori. They made those on contract for Bucella Cristalli too, who sold them under their own label. I bought quite a few variations of that Settori type - but they were never popular on my tradestands - too big I think. Most of them went to America.

When I went to Venice in February I could find very few 3 Fiori weights left in the shops, and those that I found were selling at more than I sell them for on my website - so certainly not worth buying!

I came back from my another trip to Venice 1-4 Dec. This time I found few paperweights that inetrested me. maybe I was not looking in the right places or there are actually less and less 3Fiori's in the market. I did see more than a few 3Fiori's occasionally but those were not the types I was interested in. I just bought a variant of "flower basket" type, like those I posted at the beginning of this thread. I saw it in the windonw of a shop in Dorsoduro. It was not even a special glass shop but was a tabacco shop. The condition of the weight looked ok and the price was just as what I paid before so I took it.

This time actually I was hoping to find nice weights of the sort with lots of whitish elements, what it is called? I'm sure they told me more than a few times at various shops in Venice and in Murano but I keep forgetting. See the last photo I posted above? Those fine half white/half transparent maccaroni like parts? Anyway, I did not see any of that sort that interested me.

I saw inside a shop between Rilalto and Coin department store, a cellection of some huge 3Fiori weights. They were like 20cm by diameter and some of them were my "flower basket" type. They were just too huge and almost monstrous, just not nice as small ones so buying them never crossed my mind (besides the name tags said €1300 - 2000). The owner appeared and sounded glad to know I posessed many smaller (normal)versions of those weights. He said he used to design for 3Fiori and those unusually huge ones in his shops were made for special collections and for exhibitions/fairs. I left the shop happy with those informations he gave me.

What is Settori like? Can you post some photos? Oh, I can take a look in your site too.

That would be Filigrana, which covers both the white and the coloured versions.

However, some (or many?) folk refer to the version with only white threads as Filigree and only use "Filgrana" for the type with coloured threads!

Also, there are probably still folk around who would call these threaded lengths either "Latticino" or "Latticinio", but I think these terms really apply only to the overall working of such elements in Vases etc. According to the Corning Museum of Glass, these two terms are now obsolete. See:http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=687&mnu=5&mid=mi87

When used as a background or main design feature in paperweights, filigrana is often simply called "lace", as in, "... set on a lace ground ...".

Yes I know that shop and those huge weights - they have been there for a long time. I find them far too big to be attractive - and a ridiculous price!

I think the type of cane you are asking about is the latticinio - milky white lacy strips twisted together. Latticini means made from milk.

I had 2 lovely Settori weights called Settori Filigree - which were the checkerboard design you like but instead of aventurine strips they used the latticinio canes ( which they called filigree). I may have a photo on disc somewhere. If I can find it I will post it on here.

I was interested in Kevin's comment that according to Corning Museum of Glass the term latticino is now obsolete.

They say "Latticino, latticinio (from Italian latte, "milk") A term formerly used to describe filigrana glass. It has now been abandoned. "

I am not sure what this means. Abandoned by whom? The Corning Museum of Glass? Was this by decree and if so when was it published?!!

Seems to me language doesn't change quite like that.

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Filigrana, that's it! Thanks KevH! I knew :oops: it was fil - something (fil > meaning thread, in French) All the Venitian shop keepers referred to the thing in question as Filigrana. Latticino, I don't remember anybody metioned, if they did, my head did not register thât word. Well even with filigrana, I needed help from you guys to get the correct word so you never know. Filgrana and Latticino, I'm happy to know those words with different nuances.

Jackie, you recognized the shop ! That's nice to know. Actually it looked to me more like a toy or model figure shop. I entered your site but could not see which were Settori. By the way I had been to your site before. About 1 year ago and that's where I learned the end of 3Fiori .

Actually, I think some of the terms used are interchangeable, so "lace" could possibly be also called "muslin" although the latter is usually of a much finer appearance and is "greyer looking" in antique French weights. "Upset muslin" looks like a mix bed of scrambled lengths and might also be called "tossed muslin".

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What's it called when it's laid out in a criss-cross pattern?

Might be just "patterened" or perhaps "chequer board".

These terms seem to be just attempts to describe the look of the filigrana (or filigree, or latticino) as set in the weight. I don't know whether the terms (or equivalents) were used by the makers, but early sales catalogues such as 1950s Sotheby's certainly used many variations in their descriptions including "latticino", "white threads", "upset muslin", "chequer" etc.

[Maybe I could browse my books and catalogues to see how many different terms have been used and if there is a general consensus on any? Might be a way of filling in time during the lousy TV schedules over the next week or so. ]

And in relation to the obsolescence stated by CMG, Adam A added,

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Abandoned by whom? The Corning Museum of Glass? Was this by decree and if so when was it published?!!

Yeah, I wondered that too. Maybe it was at about the same time that "lampworkers" became "torchworkers" in the US??